Boardcollector Surf Swap

Reg Mombassa will be hosting an apre' Surf Market book signing of his new book of collected works called "The Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa" from 5pm on the 12th of December at Deus Ex Machina, 104 Parramatta rd Camperdown.

Christopher O'Doherty, aka Reg Mombassa, has infiltrated our culture for more than thirty years with a unique, laconic view of our world - and of his. His wit, sense of mischief and larrikin energy resonated in the songs and performances of one of Australia's most beloved bands, Mental As Anything, whose music became the soundtrack to a generation's misbegotten youth. His eye for the absurd and his unapologetic idealism captured another generation or three with his irreverent, frequently macabre and always distinctive designs for the original Mambo label. Yet, long before he became a Mental or transformed shirts into collector's items, Mombassa was first and foremost an artist. From his idiosyncratic pop art to the delicately realised fine art landscapes and images that celebrate and elevate the suburban, his artworks are sought by collectors around the world. But there is much more to Reg Mombassa, as fellow New Zealand-born writer and painter Murray Waldren shows in this illuminated journey. Illustrated with almost 300 original artworks and packed with photographs, posters and band memorabilia, this is a true collector's item.

This day is gonna be huge!We are at maximum capacity with new stall holders for the Deus Surf Market on the 12th of December ringing everyday.We have even confirmed a live band will be playing throughout the day.Its not just surf boards there will be vintage skate boards and parts, bikes, cruisers, art works, books, photographs and posters.

I took this 6'0" G&S single fin triple fly channel bottom pin tail for a surf today. I love this board for a few reasons-1) It was free. I found it in a council rubbish throw out.2) Its width and thickness make it really easy to paddle and catch waves.3) Its length and channel bottom make it really loose, fast and easy to turn.4) Its big single fin and pin tail make for beautiful smooth turns with lots of speed and great hold with no side slipping.5) It was shaped by the late Shark Island legend Greoff Solness.If I ever shape my own boards, and I will, this will be the first board from my collection I'll try to reproduce.The humble single fin pin tail is a sorely under rated surfboard design.

Greg Solness, shark Island photo by Darrel Jones.

There was a group of guys flying radio controlled gliders at the top of the cliff above the reef break I was surfing.I couldn't help but compare the similarities between the two past times.Surfing and gliding are both weather reliant and take you close to nature.Every guy was trying out his own hand shaped glider design.The paint jobs on the planes looked like surfboards sprays.But mainly the trill is in the the turns, sweeping arcs and the joy of the ride.

This blog is about innovation in surfing and one of the most influential innovations in surfing has been the use of satellite images and swell maps.When leaving Auckland the other day I was given a realtime look at how a low in the Tasman generates swell for the west coast of NZ and the east coast of OZ at almost the same time.The swell map was proved absolutely accurate by the photos.3ft of swell on Sydney's south facing beaches.8ft of swell hitting Manukau Heads on the outside of Auckland harbor.

I was amazed at this set up on the south side of the heads.A huge, long, left hand set up that was breaking for miles, that I have named New Zealuwatu, in honor of Bali's long left to the north.I have googled Manukau and cant find any images of people surfing there.Either its highly protected (likely) or I've discovered a new classic left-hander (unlikely).

I had to go to beautiful Auckland for the day last week and following my own advice I tried to log on the ebay.co.nz before my trip to see what unique NZ surfcraft would be waiting for be there.

I was shocked to discover there is no such thing, instead they use a site called trademe.co.nz

Treademe claim to have 1 million members which is pretty impressive considering there is only 3 million people in New Zealand.

Sure enough I found this little beauty up for auction, made in Auckland and in fantastic condition, ending on the day of my arrival.

Sadly a heavy night of drinking and dancing on the bar in a Cowboy bar led to completely disabling hangover that left me unable to summon the energy to find 'New Market' and barley able to make it back to the airport, so the board was left behind in its natural habitat.

1982 Stubbies Surf Classic Burleigh

The 82 Stubbies was the pinicle of inovation period surfing and surfboard design. The heats included Mark Richards on his own hand shaped twin fin design, Cheyne Horan (winning) on a Geoff McCoy Laser Zap design with Ben Lexan designed winged Star fin, Rabbit Barthlemow on a channel bottom rounded pin tail Hot Stuff, Dane Kealoa on a T&C twin fin and Simon Anderson on his new 3 fin thruster design. Never before or since has there been such a variety of cutting edge surfboard design in one place.

Innovation Period - Definition

The innovation period of surfboard design has also been described as 'T2'. Meaning the second transition period, the first transition period of surfboard design was from late 60's to the early 70's, or short board revolution, where boards went from long boards (10') to short boards (6'), an exciting time for the likes of Dick Brewer and Bob Mc Tavish, who were sawing a foot off their boards at a time. The second transition period was from the late 70's to the early 80's when surf boards went from 1 fin to 3 fins and beyond.

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About Me

I've been collecting innovation period surf boards since 1990. I was trained as an industrial designer and I love surfboards as pieces of hydrodynamic design. I am an art lover and I appreciate surfboards as hand crafted sculptures and I admire their graphic designs and art works. Mainly I am a dedicated surfer and regularly surf each of the boards in my collection.